KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs offense sleepwalked through its first three drives as the Chargers raced out to a 10-point lead in the opening quarter-plus Friday at Arenas Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil.
While Patrick Mahomes conjured plenty of second-half magic, it wasn’t enough — and that flat start had a lot to do with it.
“It wasn’t good enough,” Mahomes said. “Just in general, they came out with more energy than we did — their defense than our offense. ... I could feel it pretty early on. I don’t know exactly when that point is, but they definitely came out with more energy than we did. In this league, everybody is too good for you to not match the energy of your opponent. So, I think we learned a valuable lesson today.”
The Chiefs closed the half with a pair of field goals, pulling within a touchdown at halftime, but they’d never manage to tie the game thanks to a missed extra point and a failed two-point conversion in the second half as the Chargers polished off a 27-21 victory in the 2025 season opener.
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“I felt like we had energy at practice (Thursday) and all throughout the week,” Mahomes said. “But when you don’t come out and play with the right mindset, you get beat. The Chargers came out with the right mindset; we didn’t, and they beat us.”
Andy Reid felt it, too.
“We were a little flat in that first half and it cost us," he said. "... I’m on the sideline, so I expect there to be emotional support there. I also expect the players to fly around and do the things I’ve seen us do. It’s my responsibility to get them in that frame of mind.”
Kansas City has been to five of the last six Super Bowls, including three straight entering the season, so the pedigree suggests they’ll be fine moving forward. If they can find a higher gear to start the game, that is.
“We’re a high-energy team,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “We’ve got to go into every game playing like it’s the Super Bowl.”
The Chiefs’ opponents certainly approach the matchups that way.
“It’s a learning moment, especially for the young guys on the team,” Mahomes said. “We’re going to get everybody’s best and we have to play up to that standard if we want to win football games. I feel like we didn’t play to that standard today. Everybody — offense, defense, special teams. ... Now, we have to learn from that, knowing that next week’s going to be just as tough.”
Kansas City has a 12-hour flight home and a few days to rest before returning to practice in preparation for a Super Bowl LIX rematch.
The Philadelphia Eagles, who thrashed the Chiefs seven months to claim the Lombardi Trophy and prevent the first-ever Super Bowl three-peat, arrive for another monster early-season test on Sept. 14 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium,
“It’s not going to be any easier,” Mahomes said. “That’s a good football team that we’re playing against this next week, so we just need to have a great week of practice, come in with a great mindset and the leaders on this team have got to step up. When we step on that football field, we’ve got to bring it, because it’s going to take our best to find a way to win against that team.”
Jones is confident the three-time reigning AFC champs will be fine.
“We can watch the film, make some corrections and we’ll be better next week,” he said. “... We have 16 more games and we have 16 more opportunities to get better.”
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